Panelists ranging from a former welfare recipient to a state representative condemned the new welfare laws at a panel discussion yesterday sponsored by the Radcliffe Public Policy Institute (RPPI).

Representative Alice K. Wolf (D-Cambridge) said the current legislation is simply "pushing the problem off to the side."

The six panelists at the Cronkhite Graduate Center were responding to a study released by RPPI, "Welfare in Transition," that examines the potential effects of new state welfare laws on mothers and families on welfare.

On Dec 1, between 10,000 and 14,000 families stand to lose benefits, one of the earliest deadlines in the nation. Participants in the forum were quick to blame those in power for their expediency.

They pointed out the human costs of welfare reform to an audience of about 120, consisting mostly of middle-aged women.

Lisa Dodson, the study's co-principal investigator and a fellow at the RPPI, said that while reducing welfare rolls may be "politically attractive," simply cutting people off public assistance is "not a solution to poverty."

The study argued that women on welfare wanted to work, but the time-con-suming activities of raising a family did not permit them to work low-wage jobs with inflexible hours.

"Raising a child is a full time job," Dodson said.

Researchers of the study said they learned that many mothers felt they were not ready for the deadline.

Issues the study said lawmakers ignored were education, healthcare and childcare.

Panelist and Cambridge Mayor Francis H. Duehay '55 agreed with this finding. Simply getting people off welfare rolls is not enough, Duehay said, the government needs to put more importance on helping people make a successful transition from welfare to work.

"Getting employed is the first step," said panelist Yarice Hidalgo of the Boston Evening Academy, a program devoted to adult education.

There must also be a "support network" encompassing education, childcare and transportation for reforms to be successful, Hidalgo said.

Former welfare recipient Sandra Smith said welfare mothers are accustomed to a day-to-day existence.

"[Welfare mothers] do no know how to plan for the future," Smith said.